Package: plymouth
Version: 0.9.0-7
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch
Christian Hofstaedtler wrote on debian-devel:
> Why does one need plymouth in the first place?
>
> Plymouth is a terminal multiplexer. Without it, if, f.e., there is
> prompting for an encrypted disk passphrase, you'll end up with other
> messages writing over the password prompt and so on. [1] With plymouth
> installed you'll get a nice standalone prompt for the passphrase.
> I imagine this being the same for systemd and upstart and any other
> event-based inits.
> http://web.dodds.net/~vorlon/wiki/blog/Plymouth_is_not_a_bootsplash/
> has some additional background.
If all this is true, shouldn't the package description mention these
practical reasons for installing the package rather than presenting it
as a "graphical boot animation and logger"? I mean, for a start,
installing plymouth (and booting with "splash") *doesn't* give me a
graphical boot animation...
My suggested patch
1) gets rid of the spurious capitalisation in the short description;
2) doesn't advertise it as "graphical" when that's not in plymouth;
3) mentions "boot-time I/O multiplexing" and "event-driven boot";
4) mentions the password prompt use case;
5) avoids repeating "text messages";
6) clarifies that plymouth is text and plymouth-x11 is graphical;
7) capitalises X11 correctly; and
8) debugs "debuging".
--
JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package
diff -ru plymouth-0.9.0.pristine/debian/control plymouth-0.9.0/debian/control
--- plymouth-0.9.0.pristine/debian/control 2014-10-26 00:08:57.000000000 +0100
+++ plymouth-0.9.0/debian/control 2014-11-06 17:45:16.191059966 +0000
@@ -34,10 +34,15 @@
Suggests:
desktop-base,
plymouth-themes
-Description: Graphical Boot Animation and Logger
- Plymouth provides an attractive boot animation in place of the text messages
- that normally get shown. Text messages are instead redirected to a logfile for
- viewing after boot.
+Description: boot animation and logger
+ Plymouth provides a boot-time I/O multiplexing framework - the most obvious
+ use for which is to provide an attractive graphical animation in place of
+ the text messages that normally get shown during boot. (The messages are
+ instead redirected to a logfile for later viewing.) However, in event-driven
+ boot systems Plymouth can also usefully handle user interaction such as
+ password prompts for encrypted file systems.
+ .
+ This package provides the basic framework, enabling a text-mode animation.
Package: plymouth-x11
Architecture: linux-any
@@ -47,12 +52,16 @@
plymouth (= ${binary:Version}),
Recommends: plymouth-themes
Suggests: gdm
-Description: Graphical Boot Animation and Logger (x11 renderer and log viewer)
- Plymouth provides an attractive boot animation in place of the text messages
- that normally get shown. Text messages are instead redirected to a logfile for
- viewing after boot.
+Description: boot animation and logger - X11 renderer and log viewer
+ Plymouth provides a boot-time I/O multiplexing framework - the most obvious
+ use for which is to provide an attractive graphical animation in place of
+ the text messages that normally get shown during boot. (The messages are
+ instead redirected to a logfile for later viewing.) However, in event-driven
+ boot systems Plymouth can also usefully handle user interaction such as
+ password prompts for encrypted file systems.
.
- This package contains the x11 renderer and the log viewer.
+ This package contains the log viewer and the X11 renderer for a graphical
+ boot splash.
Package: plymouth-dbg
Architecture: linux-any
@@ -64,12 +73,15 @@
plymouth-x11 (= ${binary:Version}),
plymouth-dev (= ${binary:Version}),
plymouth-themes (>= ${source:Version}),
-Description: Graphical Boot Animation and Logger (debug)
- Plymouth provides an attractive boot animation in place of the text messages
- that normally get shown. Text messages are instead redirected to a logfile for
- viewing after boot.
+Description: boot animation and logger - debug
+ Plymouth provides a boot-time I/O multiplexing framework - the most obvious
+ use for which is to provide an attractive graphical animation in place of
+ the text messages that normally get shown during boot. (The messages are
+ instead redirected to a logfile for later viewing.) However, in event-driven
+ boot systems Plymouth can also usefully handle user interaction such as
+ password prompts for encrypted file systems.
.
- This package contains the debuging symbols.
+ This package contains the debugging symbols.
Package: plymouth-dev
Architecture: linux-any
@@ -77,10 +89,13 @@
${misc:Depends},
plymouth (= ${binary:Version}),
plymouth-x11 (= ${binary:Version}),
-Description: Graphical Boot Animation and Logger (development)
- Plymouth provides an attractive boot animation in place of the text messages
- that normally get shown. Text messages are instead redirected to a logfile for
- viewing after boot.
+Description: boot animation and logger - development
+ Plymouth provides a boot-time I/O multiplexing framework - the most obvious
+ use for which is to provide an attractive graphical animation in place of
+ the text messages that normally get shown during boot. (The messages are
+ instead redirected to a logfile for later viewing.) However, in event-driven
+ boot systems Plymouth can also usefully handle user interaction such as
+ password prompts for encrypted file systems.
.
This package contains the development files.
@@ -119,12 +134,15 @@
plymouth-themes-spinfinity,
plymouth-themes-spinner,
Breaks: plymouth-drm (<< 0.9.0-6~)
-Description: Graphical Boot Animation and Logger (themes)
- Plymouth provides an attractive boot animation in place of the text messages
- that normally get shown. Text messages are instead redirected to a logfile for
- viewing after boot.
+Description: boot animation and logger - themes
+ Plymouth provides a boot-time I/O multiplexing framework - the most obvious
+ use for which is to provide an attractive graphical animation in place of
+ the text messages that normally get shown during boot. (The messages are
+ instead redirected to a logfile for later viewing.) However, in event-driven
+ boot systems Plymouth can also usefully handle user interaction such as
+ password prompts for encrypted file systems.
.
- This package is the themes:
+ This package provides the following themes:
.
* fade-in: features a centered logo that fades in and out while stars twinkle
around the logo during system boot up.
